


is this a date?

by princessoftheworlds



Category: Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Awkwardness, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kid Fic, Oblivious Diana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 03:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13137795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessoftheworlds/pseuds/princessoftheworlds
Summary: Diana's daughter insists that their neighbor Steve likes her, but Diana doesn't think so. Or, at least, not until he leans in to kiss her at lunch.Or, the one where Diana realizes that she's actually on a date.





	is this a date?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [writerblender](https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerblender/gifts).



> For the wonderful [writerblender](http://writerblender.tumblr.com/). I was their Secret Santa. Happy holidays!

“Henri, wait!” Diana cries as her daughter races through the open doorway, darting into the hallway. “Slow down, darling!” She totters after the five-year-old.

When she catches up, Henri is making conversation with their neighbor Steve. He’s crouched down, apartment keys in hand, to make eye contact with Henri as he tells her something that makes her smile.

“No, silly. Cows go moo,” Henri says excitedly as she finishes her joke.

Steve laughs heartedly, a rich sound that, for some reason, brings a smile to Diana’s pale lips.

“Henrietta Prince,” Diana chides, “what did I tell you about running off? And about bothering Steve?”

“It’s fine, Diana,” Steve replies, still smiling widely. “Henri was just telling me a joke her teacher told her today.”

“Mama, Mama,” Henri cries, “say _knock knock_.”

“Who’s there?” Diana asks, combing her fingers through Henri’s tangled curls.

“No,” Henri responds with a whine. “You hafta say _knock knock_.”

“Here, Diana,” Steve adds, “watch me. _Knock knock_.”

“Who’s there?” Henri asks with glee.

“Police,” Steve tells her.

“Police who?”

“Police hurry-I’m freezing out here!” Steve finishes, startling a laugh out of Diana.

“See,” Henri says, fixing her mother with a patronizing stare, “that’s how you tell a knock-knock joke, Mama.”

“Well,” Diana says while reaching for her daughter and lifting her into her arms, “you showed me.” She nods her head at Steve. “It was wonderful seeing you, Steve. We shall be going.”

She turns to return to her apartment, but Steve’s voice stops her in her tracks.

“Wait, Diana!” he calls, and she faces him.

“How can I help you, Steve?” Diana smiles softly at him.

Steve is wringing his hands together with some sort of apprehension. “Would you like to get lunch with me someday?” he asks. “Maybe some time this week, perhaps?”

Diana purses her lips. “My schedule this week is quite packed, but I think I can do Friday. Where would you like to meet? I can come to the police station.”

Steve laughs. “It’s alright. There’s this great little bistro that just opened near your gallery. A friend was telling me about it at the station. I’ll text you the address, and we can meet there.”

“That would be lovely,” Diana says with a sigh. “I look forward to our lunch.”

He gives her one last smile before unlocking his apartment door and disappearing inside.

“Mama,” Henrietta says from her perch in Diana’s arms.

“Yes, Henri?” Diana strokes her daughter’s back affectionately.

“Steve wikes you,” she says slyly.

Diana giggles. “No, he doesn’t, darling. It’s a lunch, like two friends have.”

“He says your name like how my teacher says her puppy’s name,” Henri tells her. “And you look at Steve like how you looked at Brunnhilde.”

Brunnhilde was Diana’s one, and only, relationship since Henri’s birth. They had met at an art show and dated for a wonderful six months until Brunnhilde was required to move to London for her job as a lawyer, resulting in a mutual break-up. Ultimately, Diana decided that she was too busy with her job at the gallery and with raising Henri to date.

“That is simply not true, darling,” she tells Henri.

“That’s what I think, Mama.” Henri shrugs, beaming up at her mother, and Diana simply chuckles.

“If that’s what you think, darling.”

* * *

 

 

“Hey, Diana,” Steve says in greeting as the brunette comes striding to their table, her heels clacking against the bistro’s hardwood floor. “How’s your day been?”

“Hello, Steve,” Diana says in return, removing her coat and hanging it on the back of her chair, before she takes her seat. “It was fine. I spend the day examining this riveting sculpture from an up-and-coming new artist. Quite complex.”

Steve chuckles lightly. “That sounds much more interesting than my day. Sameer and I were stuck explaining to the new police chief that we can’t make any conclusions about how a victim died until the autopsy.”

“Must have been frustrating,” Diana replies sympathetically, propping her menu open.

“You have no idea.” Steve sighs in exasperation but glances up and smiles at Diana. “Where’s Henri today? You usually pick her up during lunch and bring her to work with you, don’t you?”

“Yes, usually, but today, my mother picked her up from her daycare,” Diana explains, scanning the menu at lightening-speed as she talks. “Henri was delighted to spend the rest of the day with Grandmama Hippolyta.”

“Well,” Steve says. “Your mother is a formidable woman. I’ve met her, and I have to say that she is very intimidating and powerful. I can see some similarities in you.” He blinks for a long moment. “I mean-you are very powerful, but I don’t think you’re intimidating.” There is another awkward pause. “I mean, I think you are intimidating but like in an awe-inspiring, kickass way.” He sighs again. “I’m just putting my foot in my mouth now, aren’t I.”

For some strange reason, Diana’s cheeks grow warm as she begins to blush and is forced to set the menu down. “Well, I believe that you are average…” she begins before sputtering. “Perhaps, not average. More like a more than typical example of your sex…”

“So, I’m above average?” Steve teases, and Diana’s blush darkens. “I’m sorry,” Steve says, chuckling. “We’re two adults, and we should be able to handle an adult conversation.”

“I truly don’t know where we went wrong,” Diana says honestly. “Why don’t we forget about all this awkwardness, and you can tell me about why you decided to become a police detective.”

“Fair enough,” Steve replies just as the waitress appears by their table.

“Excuse me, sir, ma’am, but may I take your order?” she asks.

“Oh, yes,” Diana says suddenly. “May I have a roast chicken sandwich with a glass of your bistro’s specialty iced tea?”

“Of course,” the waitress replies, jotting something quickly on her notepad with a pen. “And, for you sir?”

“I’ll also take the sandwich,” Steve says decisively, “but I’ll have some lemonade rather than the iced tea.”

“Of course.” The waitress nods, tucking her notepad back into her apron. “Your food will be out shortly.”

“Thank you,” Diana calls as the waitress leaves. “Now, where were we?”

“I was about to tell you why I chose to attend the police academy,” Steve says with a smile. “I was seventeen, and all my friends were applying to college. My dad, well, he was the police chief then, and I decided that I wanted to be like him. So, I applied to the police academy, eventually took the detective exam, and here I am now.”

“You must really love your father,” Diana comments gently.

“Yeah,” Steve replies, chuckling, “I do. We get together every Fourth of July and go fishing; it’s a Trevor family tradition. What about you? You never talk about your father.”

“Well.” Diana shrugs elegantly. “There is not much to talk about there. He was a wonderful man, but he died when I was quite young. Hence, I grew up only really with Mother and my aunt Antiope, my mother’s sister. It was like my mother molded me from clay, and I was brought to life by Zeus.”

Steve laughs but not unkindly. “That’s neat. Like the Greek myth of Athena?”

Diana nods. “Yes. I believe that is where my mother was inspired from. She must have found it easier than telling a toddler than her father died, but I thought it would be better to tell Henri about her parents.”

“Etta, right?” Steve asks. “Etta Candy was her mother? I met her a couple of times before her death. She and her husband were wonderful people.”

“They were,” Diana says, feeling a sharp tug of sorrow. “They died only a few days after her birth and didn’t even get to name her. It’s been four years, but I still grieve her death.”

The waitress returns with their order, setting the plates down carefully. “Enjoy the meal,” she says kindly.

“Thank you,” Steve tells her before turning to face Diana. “I completely understand; you were such close friends with her.”

“Yes, I was.” Diana sighs, reaching for her iced tea to take a long sip. “Enough sadness for now. Christmas is fast-approaching. Do you have any plans?”

“Nah,” Steve says. “My parents decided to take the vacation they long deserve; they’re flying to Costa Rica next week. I was just planning to go to my friend Charlie’s for Christmas.” He takes a bite of his sandwich. “What about you and Henri?”

“We were going to my mother’s home for dinner,” Diana replies.

They chat for the next half hour until their sandwiches have been reduced to crumbs on their plates and Steve is draining the dredges of his lemonade. Their conversation is just dwindling down when the waitress brings the bill, which Steve grabs immediately and hands back to the waitress with his credit card, ignoring Diana’s protests.

“You and Henri deliver me homemade cookies once a week,” Steve reasons. “Consider this my way of paying back.”

Diana smiles. “Fine.”

She waves to their waitress on the way out and holds the door open for Steve to slip through as he shrugs his coat back on. “Don’t you have to return to work?” she asks him when he continues walking with her.

He shakes his head. “Only got a bunch of paperwork waiting for me back at the station. I can take a few more minutes to walk you to the gallery.”

“You won’t be able to avoid those papercuts forever,” Diana replies teasingly, and Steve mischievously winks at her.

Before she knows it, Diana comes to a stop outside of the gallery’s back entrance. “I guess our lunch has come to an end,” she announces.

Steve beams at her, and Diana’s so lost with staring at his twinkling eyes that she fails to notice his attempts to telegraph his intentions until he’s leaning in and pressing a gentle hand to cradle her cheek.

“May I?” he murmurs, waiting patiently for her response.

Diana can only fix him with a bewildered stare.

“Oh,” Steve says a little more loudly. “I, uh, I guess I misread the signs.” He takes an awkward semi-step back and rocks on the balls of his feet. “Uh…I’m sorry. I just thought we were clicking. Maybe it’s just me.”

His face is slightly disheartened, almost like Henri’s is when Diana forbids her from eating cake as a meal, but Diana cannot understand why.

“I’m sorry,” she says slowly, “but what is going on?”

Steve shrugs a bit uncomfortably. “I thought our date was going well, so I decided to try and kiss you.”

Diana is still staring. “What date?”

Steve cocks his head at an odd angle. “This date?” he replies, his tone becoming hesitant.

“I thought this was a lunch,” Diana states contemplatively.

“Yeah,” Steve agrees. “A lunch I asked you out to like a date because I’ve liked you for a while now.”

“Oh,” Diana sighs in understanding. “Henri was right. She told me that you liked me.”

“She was correct,” Steve says with an awkward chuckle. “So, I’ll see you around…” He gives her a strained grin before walking away at a sudden pace.

Diana remains staring at Steve’s attractive behind as it retreats rapidly before she suddenly calls after him.

“Steve!” she cries, striding quickly to catch up to him.

He stops in his tracks and whirls around to face her. “Yeah?” he asks unsurely.

The same height as Steve in her heels, Diana slides an arm around his neck and straighten her back to lean up and kiss him softly.

His lips, though pliant, remain hesitant for a few tense moments before he enthusiastically responds to the kiss by weaving a hand through her loose waves.

They kiss for a few, short, passionate minutes before Steve steps back, gasping for air.

“Wait,” he says in confusion. “I thought you didn’t want to kiss me.”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to kiss you,” Diana corrects him. “I just didn’t realize that we were on a date until five minutes ago.”

“Oh,” Steve gasps. “Oh. Yeah, that makes _so_ much more sense.” He pauses for a moment. “I’m going to kiss you again.”

Diana laughs sweetly before winding her other arm around his waist and pulling Steve closer as he leans down to kiss her.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr [here](http://princess-of-the-worlds.tumblr.com/).


End file.
